Sigasi creates SDK for custom editors

HDL editor and analysis tools specialist Sigasi has launched a software development kit (SDK) to provide inhouse tools builders and EDA vendors with a way to build in code-editing features.

“We founded Sigasi in 2008 with a mission to redefine digital design. Our Integrated Design Environment (IDE), Sigasi Studio, is now the tool of choice for many hardware engineers in very diverse industries,” said CTO and Sigasi co-founder Hendrik Eeckhaut. “In a fast-changing world, engineers need to be able to rely on design and verification tools they can trust. It makes sense to offer our features to other EDA tools and continue to build strong partnerships that offer value to our end-users.”

The Sigasi SDK is written in Java and runs as a separate process so that it does not affect the handling of the core tool. As with Sigasi’s editor products, the SDK provides access to functions that make it easier for users to write code and find potential problems before they go to the compile or synthesis stage. The editor can spot syntax and other structural problems and offer context-sensitive autocompletion as well as tool-tips underneath a hovering cursor and show the declaration locations of identifiers. The editor will also perform automated semantic highlighting and code indenting.

“When we reached out to Sigasi in 2018, we were looking for new best-in-class HDL editing features for our Vivado Design Suite,” said Robert Shortt, distinguished engineer at Xilinx. “I was happy to learn they were already working on a Sigasi Language Server based on the Language Server Protocol. After a cooperative integration effort, we are happy to now be able to offer Sigasi features to Vivado users.”

Bob Seghers, general manager of Sigasi, added: “We are working with several other companies.”